L'Arc-en-Ciel

L'Arc-en-Ciel (ラルク アン シエル, raruku an shieru?, "the arc in the sky" or "the rainbow" in French) is a popular Japanese rock band, formed in 1991. The group has sold over 15 million albums, 30 million singles, and millions of other units, such as videos.[1]
They are ranked at No.58, in a list of Japan's top 100 musicians, provided by HMV. [2]
Formation
In February of 1991, bassist Tetsuya Ogawa (Tetsu), later band leader, recruited vocalist Hyde along with guitarist Hiro and drummer Pero, and formed a band under the name of L'Arc-en-Ciel. After a year of gaining notoriety in their hometown of Osaka, Hiro left the band on June 12, 1992. Pero soon followed on December 30 of the same year, supposedly to join up with his friend Hiro again.[citation needed] To replace the two, Tetsu convinced his friend Ken Kitamura to quit his university studies (he was an architecture major at The Nagoya Institute of Technology) and join the band as the guitarist. Later, a new drummer, Yasunori Sakurazawa, was recruited after Tetsu saw him perform in a few shows.